1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to halogenated tetracyclic compounds, and particularly to halogenated tetracyclic compounds useful as anti-cancer agents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Halogen bonds have attracted a great deal of attention in the past for hit-to-lead-to-candidate optimization for improving drug-target binding affinity, designing ligands to increase lipophilicity to facilitate the blood-brain barrier crossing, and to prolong the lifetime of the drug, thereby improving bioavailability. Halogenated compounds are important inhibitors against proteins, including those that are involved in carcinogenesis. It has been reported that about 50% of compounds in high-throughput drug screening contain halogens.
The tetracyclic antidepressant drug maprotiline 9,10-dihydro-N-methyl-9,10-ethanoanthracene-9-propanamine has recently been identified as a novel in vitro antiproliferative agent against Burkitts Lymphoma (BL) cell lines DG-75, which does not involve caspases, DNA fragmentation or PARP cleavage. This drug induced anti-multi-drug resistance (MDR) effects in both cancer cell lines and the malaria strain plasmodium falciparum. Thus, this compound holds potential in diverse therapeutic applications.
Antidepressant compounds that are dichlorinated compounds of the dihydroethanoanthracene family are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,125,866 B1, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Thus, halogenated tetracyclic compounds solving the aforementioned problems is desired.